Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
There’s a fraction plastered throughout SJSU athletics buildings and on shirts worn by players and coaches. “Process” is the numerator and beneath it is “outcome.” Put together, you get “process over outcome.”
Ironically, a mindset detached from results has led to some phenomenal outcomes. Especially when it comes to the Spartans’ defense.
SJSU is 4-1 following a 40-7 drubbing of UNLV, and has won its last three games while allowing opponents 29 points in that time span. None of which have come in the fourth quarter.
Defensive coordinator Derrick Odum is pleased with these early showings, but it’s the process to get there that’s more important.
“We just keep playing and it’s the next play up,” said Odum, who’s in his sixth year as SJSU’s defensive coordinator. “We don’t look at the scoreboard.”
It’s as if the scoreboard is Medusa and Odum doesn’t dare lay eyes, for fear of getting turned to stone.
Linebacker Kyle Harmon takes it a step further.
He doesn’t even trust it.
“It’s a lie, like we can’t really look up at the score until the game is over,” said Harmon, who has a team-leading 41 tackles.
The answer, as well as the Spartans’ performance, is dripping with ‘been there, done that.’ Harmon, who’s in his fifth year as a Spartan, is surrounded by maturity.
Over half of the starters on defense have at least four years of college football under their belts.
“It brings a lot of experience and a lot of leadership with that, [head] coach [Brent] Brennan says it all the time, ‘Experience is the best teacher,’” said Harmon.
For much of his tenure, that experience has been fraught with bumps and bruises. Since 2018, excluding its stellar 2020 season, SJSU football has allowed an average of 31.7 points per game and finished in the bottom half of the Mountain West every year.
“It’s just a maturation process for those guys. They’ve been through it enough. They know what we expect,” said Odum.
Part of that expectation is not getting complacent after getting a taste of success.
“We kind of gain momentum early, we kind of just snowball with that. It’s always a four-quarter game no matter what the score is,” said Harmon.
During their three-game win streak, the Spartans have held Western Michigan and UNLV scoreless in the first half and allowed just 10 points to Wyoming.
But it’s not as if an entirely different beast or game plan comes out when the “three” on the quarter section of the scoreboard turns into a “four.”
“The fourth quarter is just an accumulation of what you’ve been doing all the way up and you want to finish the thing the right way,” said Odum.
The defense relies upon preparation and stamina built through conditioning, and continues to pin its ears back and lets it fly.
“We condition really hard, we practice hard so when we get in those situations late in the game, we have that stamina to make it all the way through and play at a high level,” said Odum.
SJSU football looks to contain their domination as they compete for the Valley Trophy against Fresno State, Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7:45 p.m.